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NEW DELHI: Amid India’s standoff with China along the Sikkim border, the country will be hosting the Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh of Vietnam, a country with which Beijing’s ties has been bumpy for centuries.

The visiting leader will hold consultations with top Indian leadership on expanding strategic partnership besides participating in India-ASEAN Track 1.5 annual event -- Delhi Dialogue on July 4-5. Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh would hold consultations with the president, vice president, foreign and finance ministers during his four-day visit from Monday.

Vietnam is one of the smaller neighbours of China that has been “bullied” by Beijing over territorial claims based on historical notions.

Beijing's moves to change geography in the South China Sea (SCS) region have had major economic and strategic implications for Vietnam and some other Southeast Asian nations besides India and Japan among others, as any future move to choke movement of cargo through SCS will have a major impact on international trade. But Vietnam is not the only smaller neighbour whose territory is being claimed by China based on historical narratives. The list includes Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines and host of Central Asian states.

Meanwhile, as the stand-off in Nathula entered its third week, Chinese official media and experts on Monday warned that Beijing will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty in the border conflicts with India even at the cost of war.

"There could be a chance of war if the recent conflict between China and India is not handled properly, observers said, noting that China will resolutely defend its territory and safeguard the border," the Global Times report said. A meeting between PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of G-20 in Hamburg later this week is not ruled out.

The Vietnamese deputy PM’s visit also comes at a time when Sino-US tensions are rising in the SCS. A U.S. warship sailed near a disputed island in the SCS on Sunday. The USS Stethem, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, part of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

It was the second "freedom-of-navigation operation," or "fonop," conducted under President Donald Trump, following a drill in late May in which a U.S. warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea.

Late Sunday night, China's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement the U.S. ship had made an unauthorized entry into China's territorial waters. The operation was a "serious political and military provocation," said the statement. China had sent battle ships and fighter jets to warn off the Stethem, according to the statement.

Twelve nautical miles from the coast marks the territorial limits of countries recognized internationally. Sailing within those 12 miles is meant to show that the United States does not recognize territorial claims there. Earlier on June 26, hours before Trump and PM Narendra Modi met in White House and emphasised on the freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific region, US oil major Exxon Mobil was warned by China not to enter deep in Block 118 (part of Vietnam’s territorial waters but claimed by Beijing) in SCS.

Beijing in fact sent 34 ships and drill platform to SCS. Without naming China, Modi and Trump called upon all nations to resolve territorial and maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Paracel Islands are also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. China fully occupied the Paracel Islands in 1974 after forcing the navy of the then South Vietnam, off its holdings. Trump has heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping and keen to build economic partnership, but his administration has also stepped up pressure on Beijing as he has become frustrated that China has not done more to pressure North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.